The AP's 'Top Ten Connecticut Stories of 2012'

December 23, 2012 5:03 PM

Photo: Jessica Hill/Associated Press

Image 1of/11

Caption

Close

Image 1 of 11

ELEMENTARY SCHOOL MASSACRE

A man armed with a military-style assault rifle broke into Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown and opened fire on two classrooms, killing 20 students and six adults. The gunman, Adam Lanza, killed his mother at her home before the attack and committed suicide at the school as police closed in. The quaint New England town of 27,000 was scarred forever by unthinkable tragedy, and a nation seemingly inured to violence found itself stunned by the slaughter of innocents. The shooting spurred President Barack Obama and many others, including some staunch gun-rights supporters, to look for ways to rein in gun violence.

A man armed with a military-style assault rifle broke into Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown and opened fire on two classrooms, killing 20 students and six adults. The gunman, ... more

Photo: Shannon Hicks, Associated Press

ELEMENTARY SCHOOL MASSACRE A man armed with a military-style... Photo-3915180.54282 - Connecticut Post

Image 2 of 11

SUPERSTORM SANDY

New York and New Jersey might have taken the brunt of Superstorm Sandy, but Connecticut still got walloped. Six people in the state were killed, more than 625,000 homes and businesses lost power, and hundreds of homes along the shoreline were destroyed or heavily damaged. Gov. Dannel P. Malloy has estimated the battering from Sandy combined with Hurricane Irene and the October 2011 snowstorm caused more than $1 billion in damage to the state.

New York and New Jersey might have taken the brunt of Superstorm Sandy, but Connecticut still got walloped. Six people in the state were killed, more than 625,000 homes and businesses lost ... more

Photo: Jessica Hill

SUPERSTORM SANDY New York and New Jersey might have taken the... Photo-3691546.54282 - Connecticut Post

Image 3 of 11

McMAHON LOSES AGAIN

Despite pouring about $100 million of her own money into the cause, Republican wrestling magnate Linda McMahon fell short in her second bid for U.S. Senate in two years. For a stretch, polls showed she was nearly tied with U.S. Rep. Chris Murphy. National Democrats opened their wallets to help Murphy in a bruising race. In the end, McMahon lost to Murphy with 43 percent of the vote, the same percentage she had in her 2010 loss to Sen. Richard Blumenthal.

One of the most notorious criminals in Connecticut's history, Joshua Komisarjevsky was sentenced on Jan. 27 to death. The execution order closed the book on two long, graphic trials for two paroled burglars, Komisarjevsky and his accomplice Steven Hayes, who killed two girls and their mother after subjecting them to a night of torment inside their Cheshire home. Komisarjevsky said in a jailhouse interview in May that he suffers no nightmares and has nothing to say to the man who lost his wife and daughters in the 2007 attack.

One of the most notorious criminals in Connecticut's history, Joshua Komisarjevsky was sentenced on Jan. 27 to death. The execution order closed the book on two long, graphic trials for ... more

Photo: Anonymous, AP

KOMISARJEVSKY SENTENCED One of the most notorious criminals in... Photo-2781279.54282 - Connecticut Post

Image 5 of 11

EAST HAVEN POLICE ARRESTED

The FBI swept into East Haven on Jan. 24 and arrested four police officers, charging them with civil rights violations in a seaside suburb where Latino residents had complained about police mistreatment. A day later, the story gained more national attention when the mayor said he might "eat tacos" as a way to do something for the Latino community. A separate investigation by the U.S. Justice Department's civil rights division alleged a pattern of discrimination toward Latinos and, by the end of the year, the city entered an agreement calling for wide-ranging police reforms.

Connecticut will once again send a congressional delegation to Washington without a single Republican. With his victory in the Senate race, Murphy led a Democratic sweep of the state's major races in the November elections. Democrats also held on to their majorities in both chambers of the state legislature. In the year ahead, state Republicans will begin focusing on how to unseat Malloy, a Democrat, in the 2014 elections.

For people outside Connecticut, few figures are more closely associated with the state than Jim Calhoun, the basketball coach who led UConn to three national championships. He retired Sept. 13 after 26 seasons in Storrs, where he turned a regional New England program into a powerhouse. The new coach is Calhoun's former assistant and hand-picked successor, Kevin Ollie, who played point guard for Calhoun from 1991-95 but had never been a head coach at any level.

For people outside Connecticut, few figures are more closely associated with the state than Jim Calhoun, the basketball coach who led UConn to three national championships. He retired Sept. 13 ... more

In April the state passed a new law that abolishes the death penalty but with an asterisk. The measure signed by Malloy applies only to future crimes in a compromise that keeps capital punishment in place for the 11 inmates already on death row, including the two Cheshire home invasion killers. Some of those condemned prisoners are expected to claim in legal challenges that it would be unfair to execute them in light of the new law.

In April the state passed a new law that abolishes the death penalty but with an asterisk. The measure signed by Malloy applies only to future crimes in a compromise that keeps capital ... more

Photo: Jessica Hill, Associated Press

DEATH PENALTY ABOLISHED In April the state passed a new law... Photo-2780243.54282 - Connecticut Post

Image 9 of 11

NEW DEFICIT

As Connecticut struggled to recover from the recession, state officials found themselves wrestling with a deficit put at $365 million by the year's end. The shortfall emerged even though Malloy and the majority Democrats in 2011 signed off on $2.6 billion in tax hikes over two years. As state officials looked for areas to cut the budget, they were facing forecasts for more financial gloom: The budget director says the state is on track for deficits exceeding $1 billion over the next few years.

As Connecticut struggled to recover from the recession, state officials found themselves wrestling with a deficit put at $365 million by the year's end. The shortfall emerged even though Malloy and ... more

Photo: Jessica Hill, Jessica Hill/Associated Press

NEW DEFICIT As Connecticut struggled to recover from the... Photo-2918840.54282 - Connecticut Post

Image 10 of 11

SUBMARINE COMMANDER DISMISSED

For tabloid drama, nothing in 2012 topped the saga of a Navy officer who was dismissed as commander of a Groton-based submarine after faking his own death to end an affair with a girlfriend. Navy Cmdr. Michael P. Ward II was relieved of his duties aboard the USS Pittsburgh on Aug. 10, a week after taking command of the submarine. The investigation into his conduct began when a relative of Ward's mistress contacted the Naval Criminal Investigative Service.